


Built by Destruction

by queenietheband



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Scene, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Castle Byers (Stranger Things), Developing Friendships, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Friendship, Gay Will Byers, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lucas is best boy but not mentioned, Mike Wheeler Is a Little Shit, Minor Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Other, Protective Eleven | Jane Hopper, Sad Will Byers, Stranger Things 3, Will Byers & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Friendship, Will Byers Needs a Hug, Will Byers-centric, destruction of castle byers, how the scene should have been, this is me being depressed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25809274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenietheband/pseuds/queenietheband
Summary: "Max cautiously approached him, her own look of confusion plastered across her face as she took in the destruction of Castle Byers and the broken boy who stood huddled before it."We were just passing through to get back to my house."Her foot crunched against a broken board and she stared at it, until Will glanced too and once he did, his heart clenched.All friends welcome."Just a scene of the destruction of Castle Byers that I think should have happened if the Duffer Brothers hadn't been cowards and given us the Max/El/Will friendship that we so rightfully deserved. Let's be honest, those three deserve a friendship and I NEED IT.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers & Dustin Henderson & Lucas Sinclair & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers & Eleven | Jane & Dustin Henderson & Maxine Mayfield & Lucas Sinclair & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers & Eleven | Jane & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Will Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Will Byers & Lucas Sinclair & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Will Byers & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 7
Kudos: 118





	Built by Destruction

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, hope everyone is staying safe! Again, I wrote this because I think there should have been more development with this trio's friendship and since the duffers won't do it, I WILL.  
> Hope you enjoy :)

Will's hand was bleeding.

He didn't know from what, it could have been how tightly he was clutching the baseball bat or the wood tearing into his skin as he ripped plank after plank from Castle Byers to the forest floor.  
He hadn't even noticed the steady flow of blood dripping down his arm until his tears had stopped and he had managed to control his breathing for a minute.  
It didn't even hurt.  
He was too numb from the _other_ pain.  
Will closed his eyes and the memory overtook all of his senses until he couldn't breathe again.  
 _It's not my fault you don't like girls._  
It was like a chant in Will's head, Mike's voice growing louder and louder with each beat of rain drops against his worn out face.  
"Stupid. So fucking stupid." Will couldn't keep it inside. All the pain, all the fear, all the worry he had buried down the whole summer was dredging itself up, rearing its ugly head, and Will had no escape.  
He couldn't forget about it over a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his closest friends. He couldn't talk to Jonathan, who he hadn't properly spoken to in over a week.  
He couldn't even vent to his mother, the one person he knew would always have his back.  
For the first time in his life (and certainly not the last) Will felt truly alone.  
He clutched his bloody hand against the blue tarp covering the remains of Castle Byers, trying to stop it fluttering noisily in the wind now that it served no purpose.  
How many times had he crawled through that entrance to escape his dad? How many times had he and his friends played games in these small walls, acting like they were in a secret club? How many times had he sat on this very mattress, clutching his notebook with joy as he sketched over and over again?  
He reached for the stack of papers that had flown out after the destruction and examined them, the tears and rain on his face staining the pages.  
Endless drawings, quick sketches, and colorful paintings, each different than the one before. His friends and family lay on the pages before him, his mom looking happier than he had ever seen her, Lucas aiming his wrist rocket, Mike looking at something in front of him.  
Will’s heart burst.

How could he ever go back and face Mike and Lucas?

He couldn't even face himself at that moment.  
He choked out a sob and grabbed the bat lying at his side, slowly stumbling to his feet. A scream let loose from his throat, being drowned out by the thunder that roared above him.  
"What’s wrong with me, why am I like this why-"  
Suddenly the bat froze in his arms. Will let out a grunt of frustration and pushed all of his remaining strength into moving it to swing it back, but it still didn't budge. He couldn't even hold it anymore.  
The bat flew out of his hands, whizzing past his head and behind him, disappearing into the thicket.  
"What are you _doing_?"  
Emerging from the dark forest like a beacon of light stood two figures, the hoods of their respective bright red and yellow raincoats pulled low over their faces. Will should have felt scared, the scene unfolding in front of him was reminiscent of that shining movie that Dustin had made the party watch a few years back.  
"Seriously, what the hell happened?"  
Almost in unison, the two pulled back their hoods.  
Will dropped his stance in confusion. "What….what are you guys doing out here?"  
Max cautiously approached him, her own look of confusion plastered across her face as she took in the destruction of Castle Byers and the broken boy who stood huddled before it.  
"We were just passing through to get back to my house."  
Her foot crunched against a broken board and she stared at it, until Will glanced too and once he did, his heart clenched.  
 _ **All friends welcome.**_

"Will...are you okay? I thought you were with Lucas and Mike?"  
"We had a fight." Will ducked his head in shame, the memories burning through his conscience once again. He felt the same pain and anger flare up inside him and he didn't even realize he had fallen to his knees until El was on the ground next to him.  
She gently reached out, rested a hand on his shoulder and, just like that, all the turmoil Will had been feeling fluttered out of him. He opened his eyes and stared into her worried gaze.  
"It's okay, Will. Everything's going to be okay." Her voice floated through his mind and he didn't know if it was because of their shared connection or her calming voice, but he actually believed her.  
Max shuffled over until she sat on his other side and gasped quietly. "Will, your hand…" He had completely forgotten about his cut. Max grabbed his hand and held it closer to her face, nodding as if she was a doctor examining a patient. "It's a really deep cut. Here," she pulled a black piece of cloth from her pocket and started to wrap it carefully around his palm. "This should keep it from getting infected, but once we get inside I can properly dress the wound."  
Will blanched. He stared at Max with such a mix of emotions that when she finally looked up at him, he kind of felt bad.  
Will cleared his throat and shifted his gaze between the two girls who he had regularly ignored for the entire time he'd known them. "Why do you guys want to help me?"  
El and Max shared a look, seeming to have a silent conversation. Finally, Max spoke up. "Will, we know you don't really like having us around, but we also know that Lucas and Mike are asshats, so….we get it."  
"Yeah," El murmured, her eyes wide and bright. "That's why we dumped their asses."  
He lowered his gaze. "You guys, I'm really sorry I treat both of you like crap. I don't mean to...it just happens."  
El patted his arm sympathetically. "You miss your friends. We took them away from you. We're sorry too."  
Max nodded and grinned at him, her bright red hair clinging to her face with the rain.  
Will shakily smiled and rested his hand on top of El's. Both of the girls were sitting here in the pouring rain, taking care of him, actually making him feel better, and here he was hating them the whole time.  
Will closed his hand over the black cloth tied around his palm and felt tears well in his eyes. "Well...maybe we can start over?"  
"I would like to start over." A small smile sprouted over El's face and for the first time since Mike had introduced her to him, Will didn't get the unnerving flare of jealousy in the pit of his stomach. Max reached out and tugged on the black cloth to lay it properly over his hand and in the tender way she performed that action, Will knew it was enough.  
“Don’t tell the others, but you were always the one I really wanted to be friends with,” Max whispered conspiratorially with a wink and even if she was just saying it to be nice, Will felt hopeless enough to believe her. He ran his other hand over a photo of the party that had been torn in half and clutched it to his chest, the pain and despair threatening to spill out of him with every breath.  
“I can’t go back. I can’t...I can’t do it again.”  
“Can’t do what, Will?”  
Will looked up at El and Max, his eyes searching for some sort of answer in their bright eyes.  
“I can’t be forgotten again.”  
The girls shared a look and Max reached out and gripped his shoulder. “You won’t be, Will. We won’t allow it.”  
Will felt the fresh tears slide down his cheeks before he even registered the smile slowly spreading across his face. “You promise?”  
El pressed her fingertips into his arm, almost as if checking for a pulse. The small smile that Will had begun to associate with her was bright on her face.  
“Friends don’t lie.”  
A sad smile rose up from Will at the phrase he had heard Mike repeat many times. “Yeah, friends don’t lie. I mean...they shouldn’t lie.” Dread filled his stomach again and he felt El press her hand deeper into his skin.  
“Will, what’s wrong? Why is your pulse faster?” Her worried gaze flitted between Max and him and as gently as possible, Max laid her hands over Will and El’s, holding all three of them together like glue.  
“It’s okay, Will. You can tell us.” Max’s bright curious eyes gazed into Will’s trying to keep her face as neutral as possible.  
“I...I can’t tell you, guys,” Will scrambled over his words when he noticed the look of hurt flash simultaneously on Max and El’s faces. “At least not yet. I don’t think i’m just there yet.”  
Eleven squeezed his hand and the small cautious smile was back on her face, emulating the comfort that Will needed. All three stood up and crowded in a small circle, ignoring the rain and the broken remains of Will’s safe haven. “C’mon Will, let’s get your hand bandaged up.” Max said as she steered him in the direction of where the girls had come from. Will sniffled, feeling El’s presence on the other side of him and for the first time in a while, he didn’t think of what could go wrong, what Mike and Lucas would think, or even what any of this meant for the party.

For the first time in a while, Will let himself be seen.


End file.
